Comforting Mai
by TheCrazyS
Summary: Mai is upset. How should Naru comfort her? ONESHOT


**AN: This is my first story ever! Please review!**

**Set after Naru comes back from England!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt (though I wish I did...)!**

* * *

Oliver Davis was conflicted.

In all 18 years of his life, he had never felt this helpless. But now he was at a loss on what to do.

And it came as no surprise to him that it was because of his young brunette assistant.

Today, she had come in to work 9 minutes late (not that he was keeping tabs on how late she always is, or worried as to what made her late, it's just that he is her boss, so he has to notice such things). And when he had scolded her about it, she had just hung her head and quietly said sorry. No excuses or arguments like the usual. Just a soft 'sorry'.

He had been surprised then. But he let it go. Thinking maybe Mai had finally learned her lesson.

He wished his life was that easy.

The first thing that hinted to him that something was wrong was the absence of his tea. Whenever Mai came in, and after he was done scolding her, she would usually make his first cup of tea of the day, and cheerfully bring it in his office, and then after giving it to him she would wait for her thank you, which of course never came. Then he would comment about her staring and she would get angry, huff, and leave. He loved annoying her.

Not that he would tell that to anyone.

So, today when his tea didn't arrive, Naru was suspicious.

Did his assistant forget? Or was it her new way of spiting him?

He believed the latter was more of a possibility.

So then he closed the file he was reading, got out of his chair, and opened the door to his lair (office, but the SPR regulars thought lair was more appropriate. Like he cared), to tell Mai off for not getting his tea (and checking up on her, not that he cared), when he froze in his doorway.

Mai was curled up on the couch, softly crying.

And Oliver was at a loss of what to do.

He realised that he was helpless when it came to tears. He never knew what to do. Comforting was always Gene's department. If mother had been upset about something, it was always Gene who would cheer her up. And Oliver had always taken it for granted, that if anyone close to them needed comforting, Gene would see to it. He wouldn't even have to raise a finger.

Then Gene had died.

When he had taken his brother's remains back to England, his mother had been inconsolable. But then his father had been there, and he had been her support. Again Oliver didn't have to do anything. He supposed he did not know how, because he had never experienced being comforted. He was never the type to cry or get upset easily. He usually ignored what others said about him, they didn't know him. When Gene died, even when he had been upset, even when he felt like a part of him had died, he did not let anyone comfort him. Partly because he believed he would never stop mourning.

So, now he didn't know what to do.

He remembered her confession from a year back, when he had asked the question 'Me or Gene?'. That time too she had cried, but he had walked away, knowing it was Gene whom she wanted to comfort her. It had hurt him then that she did not answer, though he didn't know why.

He sighed. Now was not the time to dwell on the past. He had ignored it when he returned, and she hadn't brought it up again. So no use thinking about it.

He had been standing in the doorway for some time now, and all this time Mai had been crying. She must be pretty upset if she didn't even notice him open his door or him just standing there. Her instincts were too sharp for that.

He considered just going back to his lair (office!) and pretending he never saw anything. But now that he HAD seen her like this, he couldn't do that. Not to mention, he wouldn't get his tea until Mai calmed down.

And it didn't look like that was happening anytime soon.

When did his life become so complicated?

Oh yes, since Mai (literally) crashed into his life.

He sighed again.

Oliver had never sighed so much in his life.

Well, he thought, it was no use pondering. He had to come up with a solution. He was Oliver Davis. Nothing was impossible for him. So, what could he do?

He supposed he could call Bou-san or Matsuzaki-san (or both) and ask them to come to the office under pretext of discussing a case. He knew as soon as they saw Mai crying, they would forget everything and run to comfort her. But the downside was that they would immediately jump to the conclusion the she was crying because of him, and would raise hell. His peace would go for the day.

That was not an option.

So, he thought about calling Yasuhara... no way! The boy gave him the creeps. Not to mention Yasuhara would immediately figure out his plan, and then he would have to endure endless teasing and taunting at Yasuhara's hand. And then there was the possibility that the spectacle boy would come up with his own weird plan about something, and again Oliver's peace would be gone.

So not Yasuhara.

Perhaps Hara-san... He knew that in the time he had been to England, the two girls had gotten over their dislike for each other, and come to an understanding. They were friendly now. But he didn't know to what extent. And he had never seen Hara-san comfort anyone. It was always everybody else, especially Mai, comforting her when she felt faint or ill on cases. Also, him calling her would unnecessarily give her the idea that HE needed her. As if!

So no again.

Hmm... John was the only one who was sane enough. Not only he would know exactly what to say, but he would do it quietly without unnecessarily involving Oliver. He was the best option.

It was Oliver's bad luck that the priest had gone back to Australia to meet his family.

He sighed again.

The only option left was Lin. He snorted. As if Lin would voluntarily do something like comforting someone. It was not because Lin didn't like Mai. It was because Lin wasn't the type. He supposed he could order Lin as his Boss, but then Lin would call up Madoka to tell her about Oliver's lack of manners (As if!), and he would have to endure non- stop scolding at her hands. Not to mention, Madoka would immediately call up his mother, and that would invite a whole new kind of hell.

So not Lin... or Madoka.

Oliver sighed yet again.

Why was everybody in his life so _useless_?

Well, he couldn't do anything about that now. So on to the problem at hand.

What to do of the Crying Mai?

Then he got annoyed at himself. Here was the great Oliver Davis, looking for a means of escape! He never ran away from anything, not even the most dangerous ghost (like in the Urado case), so why should this be any different? So what if he didn't know how to comfort people, he could just do as always! Deal with it logically. If they felt he was harsh or insensitive, well it was their problem!

Then again, Mai was not other people. She was, he admitted begrudgingly, an important person to him. He couldn't have her hate him.

That was new for him, caring about what a person thought of him.

In conclusion, he would have to deal with it a little...differently.

So, he made up his mind (and steeled his nerves, not that he would admit that), and stepped forward.

"Mai?"

Said girl immediately jumped up from the couch and started rubbing off her tears.

"Na..Naru! Sorry I didn't notice you there! And...OH! I am so sorry I forgot to bring you tea! I will ge..."

"Mai!" He cut off her ranting. She stopped and looked at him.

Oliver realised he should have prepared better for this. He walked closer to her.

"...What's wrong, Mai?" He figured that was the most logical question given the situation.

Mai looked at him wide eyed. Naru had just asked her what was wrong. NARU! ...Maybe something was wrong with him!

"Naru, are you okay? Are you feeling ill?" She asked and put her hand to his forehead to see if he had a fever.

"No Mai." Oliver gave an exasperated sigh. Leave it to Mai to be worried about others when she herself was this upset.

She pulled her hand back and looked down

"What's wrong?" Oliver repeated, a little softly this time.

Mai looked up and gave him a small smile.

"Nothing's wrong Naru. I was just... Well forget it! I will bring you your tea!" She said and made to move towards the kitchen.

He put a hand on her shoulder to stop her and turned her around.

"Answer me Mai." He said firmly, but softly, with his eyes holding hers.

That was enough to break her resolve. She felt tears pricking her eyes, and gave in to them.

When she started crying again, Oliver felt like running. He didn't know how to proceed after this. No! He would not run! Oliver Davis did not run.

He made to sit her on the couch, and sat next to her.

"Mai?" He asked again.

"It... m...ann..." She mumbled something, though he didn't get a word of it, seeing as she was crying so hard.

He sighed, and took her face in his hands. He wiped the tears away with his fingers and looked at her.

The shock that Naru had done something like that had temporarily stopped her crying. She stared at him wide eyed. What had happened to him? Was he possessed?

"Its rude to stare." Nope. Its Naru alright.

"Now tell me properly. What's wrong?" He tried again. Though he didn't show it, he was shocked he was capable of anything physical like that. It had been pure instinct when he had held her face. Though seeing as it had stopped her tears, he figured he was on right track.

"...It's my parents' death anniversary today..." She said softly.

Oh, he thought, though he didn't remember seeing her this upset last year or the year before that. So he hadn't known that this day was important to her.

"I'm sorry", she continued, "It's just that for the last few years, every year on this day I am either with Bou-san or Ayako or on cases, so it provided a kind of distraction...And before that Michiko used to keep me company on this day and she would cheer me up... but this time..." She trailed off.

He understood why he didn't notice before. And why she was this upset today. There were no cases, and after school had finished, her friend had gone away to college far away, or so Mai had told him.

"And I haven't told about today being the anniversary to anyone else, even Bou-san or Ayako! So..." The tears were back.

That explained why the Monk and the Priestess were not here to cheer her up. Had they known, he was sure _he _wouldn't have been in this situation. They would have left everything else and come here to comfort her, and stayed with her the whole day.

So what should he do now? He knew the reason, but he didn't know how to cheer her up. He supposed he should understand her pain, after all he was an orphan too. But he was very young when it happened, and before he could experience what it felt like to not have a father and mother, he and Gene had been adopted by Luella and Martin Davis. And they had become their new parents. So he had never felt like his life lacked anything.

Until Gene had died. That had created a big void in his life, which he had believed would never go away.

He admitted now, maybe he had been wrong.

If he was truthful to himself, even Gene's absence was being filled up, slowly, by his bubbly assistant.

The assistant who was now again crying.

So, he did what he had seen Gene do when mother had been crying, what Bou-san or Matsuzaki-san would have done. He put an arm around her shoulder, and pulled her to him. In essence, he hugged her.

That shocked Mai out of her tears, yet again! That was twice now that Naru had done something so...un-Naru like! Had hell frozen over? She supposed she should enjoy this feeling. He was warm, even though his attitude was cold. Mai had always known that beneath that cold exterior, he was a caring person. The fact that he took utmost care that everyone was safe during cases was proof enough. Even though he would just say he did that to avoid unnecessary paperwork and hospital bills, she knew better.

It's just that she never thought he could be so caring and kind towards her, especially after her disastrous confession last year. He had rejected her, and she had then believed that Naru would now never talk to her. She supposed it was because she had never answered his question "Me or Gene?", even though she wanted to scream "You!" . His question had shocked her into silence, and by the time it wore off, Naru had already left. And before she could find the courage to confess again, he was off to England.

But then he had returned after a few months, and had talked to her and argued with her (and insulted her intelligence) as he had before. His demands for tea had not lessened, and they had fallen back to their normal pattern. He had behaved as if her confession never happened, and she had then decided she would do the same. Maybe, with time she would move on. That had been impossible. His constant presence made it difficult for her, and she had found herself falling in love with him all over again.

She blushed at the thought, and didn't look up, fearing he would see her red face, and it would get awkward.

He noticed she had stopped crying, though he doubted it was because she was no longer upset. Maybe it was the shock of him hugging her. That was possible, as everyone knew, especially Mai, that he wasn't a physical person. He rarely allowed anyone to touch him, let alone he himself touching anyone else. The list of exceptions to this contained a handful of names, and he realised he had unconsciously added Mai to it.

Oh well.

"Mai, it's alright to be upset. It's alright to cry. You don't need to hide it, or fight it. Let it go...I will stay here as long as you want." He said softly. He didn't know where those words came from. But he knew they were right, as he felt Mai tremble once, then put her arms around him, and cry softly.

He had meant it when he said he would stay as long as she wanted, he realised. He looked down at her, and smiled softly. And he didn't regret saying that. And it felt nice, comforting Mai.

He did not know how long they stayed that way, but eventually Mai's sobs quieted down, and he knew she had calmed down. Slowly, Mai let go of him, and sat up.

"Thanks Naru", she said rubbing the last of her tears away, "I feel a lot better now." She turned to him, and smiled brightly. Oliver felt himself smiling back.

"You're welcome Mai." He replied, and retracted his hand from her shoulders and stood up. He went towards his office, but before entering turned back.

"And Mai?" He waited till she looked at him again, "Tea."

That made Mai laugh and she stood up, "Of course Naru". She smiled at him again and turned towards the kitchen to make his precious tea. He watched her go, smiling all the while. He then turned and entered his lair (office!). He closed the door and smirked.

He had just comforted Mai, even when he didn't know how to at first. He had proved yet again that there was nothing Oliver Davis could not do. And it had felt _good_.

Maybe from now on, every year on this day he could be with her, and comfort her. That didn't sound so bad.

* * *

Lin softly closed his office door. He had seen everything that had happened in the lounge, _and_ he had recorded it. He was glad that Noll had in the end decided to comfort Mai. He was first afraid that Noll would ask him. He had seen Noll standing in his doorway thinking for about 10 minutes, deciding on what to do. That was the first time he had seen Noll so helpless. Lin had thought to help, but then decided it was time the boy learned to do something like this on his own. Then Noll had _hugged _Mai and comforted her. Lin had been surprised and pleased.

Well, it was about time that hard headed boy started to realise his feelings. It was amusing to see Noll and Mai dance around each other, but it had gone on too long.

He smiled. He better send the video to Madoka. He knew Noll would be angry, but it would be worth it. Not to mention Mai would blush a brilliant red when she found out there was a witness to their intimate moment, namely Lin. It would be interesting to watch them interact from now on. He knew this was an important moment in both Noll's and Mai's life.

And it was just the beginning.

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**Phew! That's it! Please review!**


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